Fire and Lightning
by Faulty L0gic
Summary: Four days after the comet, Azula negotiates with her brother to get out of prison, and works with the Gaang and her friends to restore balance after a century of war, working against well-earned distrust, echoes of her loss of control, and a new threat.
1. The Prisoner

Azula awoke imprisoned. Three sets of shackles bound her hands in front of her, and she was in the eclipse bunker, surrounded by rock in almost all directions, and half a foot of metal in the other.

She collected herself, parsing what had happened. She had lost control. Almost completely. And it let some pathetic waterbender beat her with the comet in the sky. She thought to herself, one voice cold logic, the other normal.

_Think rationally. Analyze your actions and emotions as though you were a different person. Why did you lose control?_

_I don't know. Maybe I was just weak._

_You are the strongest firebender in history. You had near perfect control of your emotions. You mastered lightning at age fourteen, and still retained it at your most vulnerable moment. Why did you lose control?_

_I don't know. _

_Think about it. Pretend you were someone else. Distance yourself from the problem, then answer: _Why did you lose control?

_Because _everyone betrayed me_._

_Think about everyone you care about, _why_ they betrayed you, and you will regain control._

_Mai. My second friend. She worked with me for most of half a year, perfectly loyal. There was no indication of treachery before Zuko left. And she said it herself: her betrayal was a simple miscalculation. Note: love can be stronger than rationality under rare circumstances. Mai's betrayal was a footnote, the second in the chain, following predictably, if not logically, from the first, and was, ultimately, the least important. Zuko has too much affection for her to make revenge worthwhile, so I'll "forgive" her._

_Ty Lee. The first person ever to choose to like me. The second-to-last betrayal, and of all of them, the least expected. Maybe she knew, somehow, that I wouldn't really hurt her. Much. So she used that to protect her other friend. I want to speak to her; maybe we can be friends again._

_Ursa. My mother. Maybe she did love Zuko more. Maybe she did think I was a monster. Wishful thinking is dangerous, after all. And I need to be ready if that turns out to be true. But looking back, I may have simply misinterpreted her actions. Certainly it's a comforting assumption to work upon, and should help me until I'm in full control again. After solving the immediate problems, I need to find her. But I can't believe she would love me until I do._

_ Zuko. My ungrateful brother. I've never seen someone so misguided. I need to talk to him immediately, before he messes everything up even more. His ridiculous sense of honor started the entire cascade._

_Ozai. My father. My father who-_

The torches in the room flared blue, streaming up to and along the ceiling, then settled back to their normal color and height.

_-whom I'm not ready to think about, yet._

She rose from the lotus position and decided upon a course of action.

She walked to the door, knocking to get the attention of the guard, who would surely be there.

"Yes?"

_Hmm, kind, female voice. Iroh's guard, if I'm not mistaken. Best to feign kindness, especially given present circumstances._

"I have a message for my brother. Tell him I want to talk to him."

"Please," she added after a brief pause.

"I will," Ming replied.

_Zuko will arrive soon. I need to set the tone of our meeting. It can't simply be one of him visiting a prisoner. And this cell can't hold me._

She regarded her shackles. The ones used to bind her during the comet were still on, made of crude iron. The other two sets were good steel. She summoned blue fire around her hands and forearms, carefully bending the heat away from her skin as her flames began to melt the metal. The iron shackles melted first, and she used the new freedom of motion to direct two of her fingers at the steel chains, melting through them with a more precise jet of fire. With full freedom of motion, she then melted through the part of the shackles actually touching her.

Then, turning to the door, she sat down, pointing both her feet at the center, leaned back on her hands, and extended her legs, letting out a compact blast of fire. It hit the door with a muffled thump. She got up, and examined the point of impact, and saw a barely noticeable dent.

She tried an arc, from her left hand, across the door horizontally, focusing on cutting. A thin line, about a third of an inch deep, was etched into the door. Looking at the rock around the door, however, she saw a much deeper cut.

Another arc from her left hand, followed immediately by a bolt from her right, cut much deeper into the steel and stone.

"You might want to stand back," she called to the guard.

Focusing on the frame, Azula set to work, firing blast after blast.

Zuko arrived at the bunker.

Ming said "You probably don't want to go in there. She's out of her shackles, and there's been a lot of noise. I'd talk to her through the door."

The door in question was blasted off its frame, flying past Zuko and Ming.

Azula stepped out, shooting the guard with lightning before Zuko could react. Zuko shifted into a fighting stance.

"I came here to help you! Why did you kill her? What possible reason could you have to electrocute her?"

"I didn't electrocute her, she's still breathing," Azula replied. "Check if you want. I didn't want her calling in reinforcements, or hearing any sensitive information. Now, why don't you come in, Zuko?"

He entered cautiously.

"So, could you explain why I am in prison?"

"Do I even need to?"

"Yes. If you've arrested me for loyalty to my father, you would have to arrest the vast majority of our military forces."

"Do you really want me to go over the reasons?" Zuko asked as he calmly walked toward her throne.

"Yes."

"You enjoy the suffering of others."

"And? You don't arrest people for how they feel; you arrest them for how they act. What exactly have I done?" the princess replied.

"You were a terrible child. You tormented animals, your friends, and me," Zuko accused, as he sat down, facing her.

"You can't honestly be holding that against me. As you said, I was a child. I didn't have anywhere near the control I did now."

"Maybe, taunting me that dad was going to kill me? Other things were understandable, but how is that anything but calculated cruelty?"

"The part where I warned you of a possible assassination while maintaining deniability with my father?" Azula said, maintaining an indifferent expression as she looked down from her throne.

"How was I supposed to use… anyway, you smirked when father burned my face and banished me!" the scarred ruler said.

"I smirked because, in that moment, I was certain that father would pass on the throne to me. And besides, you weren't seriously damaged," she replied coldly.

"Fine. I've gathered information about you, and there's still plenty of evil. What you did to general Sako, for example."

"He was a rebel. I was tasked by my father to crush his rebellion. And I did, with minimal casualties on both sides."

"That's certainly the clean, comfortable way to look at it, Azula. Why don't you describe how you did it?" Zuko rose, glaring.

"It's fairly simple, really. Sako was the governor of our third largest island. He decided to try to gain autonomy when our domestic forces were depleted, thanks to Zhao's campaign in the north. Both major cities on his island were terrorized by his forces. Inefficiently, I might add,"

"Because cruelty needs to be efficient, I suppose," Zuko stated acidly.

"Precisely."

"Continue," Zuko said, his eyes narrowed.

"First, I used my authority as princess to request twenty-five Yu Yan archers. Then, using their skills, and building my tactics around them, I won the battle against Sako's army, but some of them, including the general himself, escaped to his fortress. During the battle, I made sure to issue loud, stupid orders that wouldn't actually have a major effect on the battle. I made sure to appear to his scouts, and spies to be everything Sako would hope for in a green royal commander: spoiled, weak, overconfident, and none too bright. This opinion was further enforced by two double agents I managed to turn to my side. These agents took special care to work in how disastrously my firebending lessons were coming along.

"After the battle, my army besieged his fortress. He was severely outnumbered, and his supplies were dwindling. So I offered to meet with him, both of us accompanied by our respective military advisors. I mostly let my advisors lay out reasonable terms, which he kept refusing. Then, I interrupted, challenging him to a public Agni Kai, the stakes of which were the unconditional surrender of the losing side. He accepted. Our advisors made the necessary arrangements so the result would be binding. He was probably slightly less competent than Zhao. I killed him. Horribly," Azula finished.

"No, you don't get to leave the details out. Describe what you did, then tell me how you feel about it," Zuko demanded.

_Why would details matter? Does he expect regret? Or remorse? From _me?

"The duel began, we turned to face each other and I started walking towards him, deflecting each of his blasts. He began to panic. When I was about six feet away I fired two precise bursts at his shoulders, cutting the tendons. His arms went limp, and I did the same to his knees. He fell, now barely able to flop his limbs. I walked over and kicked him onto his back. I pinned him down, spent a couple minutes heating random bones, then I started slowly burning his left leg with a small disk of flame that began at the bottom of the foot, moving slowly up. He screamed, and begged for mercy. I took the opportunity to make a speech about the consequences of rebellion. After his left leg was gone, I let him blubber for a minute, then incinerated his right leg, all at once. He screamed louder. I set to work on his arms. I had severed the nerves of the right one, unfortunately, but the left still had feeling. I burned his skin, then picked it off with my nails, doing the same to his flesh, until his arm was just bone. He was hoarse by this point, and had moved on to begging for a quick death. I placed my hands on his chest, and sent a tiny bit of lightning though him, not enough to kill. This got the loudest scream yet. After a few minutes of that, I moved on to his face. I slowly heated the water in his eyes until they were boiling, and exploded. I popped his eardrums, then melted his teeth. He was incoherent by then, just saying "please" over and over. I took another minute with low-power lightning, stood up, and sent a blast of fire through his head, killing him." Her voice never wavered.

"How…?"

"Did I keep him from bleeding to death? I tied off his limbs before working on them, and cauterized the wounds."

"How can you think – how can you _possibly_ believe that was justified?" Zuko asked, rising and walking toward her. "No one deserves that," he added quietly.

"Results. In previous rebellions, we tended to end with negotiation, leaving the leader, and often the inciter, banished or stripped of nobility, but still relatively unharmed. Nobles are more likely to rebel if they always have a way out. I simply demonstrated that they could no longer rely on such a thing, that they would receive no mercy. We haven't had so much as a rumor of rebellion since, though that's certainly going to change with you on the throne. Besides, he had used similar tactics to maintain control of his island, and had no family to speak of," Azula said.

"So no one would miss him badly enough to exact revenge, or even complain too loudly," Zuko said, bitterly.

"Precisely. Two strong reasons why I chose him. I should also point out that there was a noticeable decline in corruption afterwards."

"You still haven't said how you feel about this. Don't you at least regret the 'necessity?' Did you enjoy it?" He spat the questions.

"No, I don't regret what I did to him. I would do it again, should similar circumstances arise. Yes, I did enjoy it, but that isn't relevant to my decisions, past or present," Azula's voice had no emotion in it.

"You mentioned other reasons?"

"Yes. A number of small reasons, and two big ones," Zuko replied, beginning to pace around the throne.

"Let us get the distractions out of the way, then."

"You lied to Iroh and me to take us prisoner."

"I had been instructed to do so. That deception was the best way to do it, minimizing risk to me, you, uncle, and my crew," she explained. "And thank you for not bringing in my mid-battle taunts."

"You endangered Mai's son, right in front of her, and were cruel to her father," Zuko accused.

"Tom-Tom was in no danger from the Avatar's group. That much was obvious to me. And I was in fact quite merciful to her father. Ordinarily a blunder such as letting thousands of rebels leave, many of them earthbenders, would result in banishment, or at least getting stripped of nobility. I let him off with a warning, as a personal favor to Mai," Azula replied.

"When it was just you, me, and Aang, you attacked me first."

"You were a distraction. Besides, I wasn't going to hurt you very much, just prevent your interference."

"You pretended to surrender, then shot uncle!"

"I didn't surrender, technically. My words were _I know when I'm beaten. You've got me._ _A princess surrenders with honor._ You did 'have' me, at a disadvantage, and I could reasonably expect better odds in the future, given that Mai and Ty Lee weren't with me and you and Iroh don't usually help the Avatar's group. And a princess does surrender with honor. But I didn't surrender," Azula said with a slight smirk.

"You still shot uncle," Zuko said, indignantly.

"Do you remember where I shot him?"

"In the shoulder; it took him weeks to heal."

"Do you remember when I was 9 years old? I could shoot an apple off someone's head. Did you think my skills had declined during the next five years?"

"No."

"And clearly, Iroh was taken by surprise and was unable to defend himself at that particular instant. So what conclusion do you draw?" she asked.

"You didn't want uncle dead."

"Thank you. Little as I care for him, he _is_ family. Which is also why I didn't have him executed after helping the Avatar escape."

"You ambushed me and uncle in Ba Sing Se."

"No. I wanted to talk, to have you on my side for the coup. If it had been an ambush, I would hardly have the Dai Li walk slowly and obviously into the room, nor would I be talking. Iroh attacked my agents, and I retaliated," the princess countered.

"You set me up so father would be disappointed in me again!"

_No. There was no way he really believed… no, that expression and tone were those of true belief and pain._

"You are truly frustrating, Zuzu," She said, coldly mocking him.

"Don't call me that!" Zuko shouted, entering her field of view again.

"I'll try to reserve it for when you're being _really_ stupid. If I had wanted father to think _less_ of you, I would have gone with the truth: you were merely helpful, at best, to my conquest. Or, I could lied and said you hadn't helped at all, or imprisoned you, or both. I went out of the way to downplay my own achievement so that I give you what you wanted," Azula said, anger showing for the first time in the conversation, as she rose and stepped toward her brother.

"But you said the only way we'd win was together. And I saved you from Katara!" Zuko didn't back away.

"Only technically true: the only way _we_ win was together. _I, _however, was perfectly capable of victory without your help. As for the fight, they were never going to defeat me before the Dai Li arrived. And when you were most helpful, when I was fighting Katara, the waterbender was out of tentacles, but I still had two free limbs, including my left arm," Azula turned away, and seated herself again.

"You tried to stop me from seeing uncle."

"For your own good. You said you wanted father's acceptance more than anything. So I warned you that continuing to see uncle may have negative consequences for you. In fact, I was nothing but straightforward and helpful to you from the moment we took Ba Sing Se to the moment you left!" Azula said, glaring from her throne.

"Not true. You deliberately made me think that you were setting me up for disgrace. You were quite mean on our vacation, you teased me about…"

"Be quiet! You lied to me about a critical matter of national security, and you have the gall to try to make me feel guilty for making you feel bad about it? And really, teasing? You can handle it. And you think I was mean on our vacation? I said to lighten up and have fun, I had fun, and I came to you at our house when you were feeling depressed and alone," Azula interrupted.

"A lot of that _fun_ was at the expense of others," Zuko replied calmly.

"Oh boo hoo, I might have ruined some peoples days," said Azula, coldly. "If I make mistakes or allow my control to slip when I'm not on vacation, I ruin lives. And," her face twisted, "I'm not perfect." Her face returned to normal. "So now, let me hear the _real_ reasons," she said

"You tried to kill me, multiple times."

"I only tried to kill you when there was absolutely no other option. If I had been trying, at almost any point, you wouldn't be talking to me now." Though her voice was steady, the torch flames flared blue, and grew in height.

"Nonsense. The first time we fought after father banished me, you were charging lightning, and Iroh saved me," Zuko said, indignantly.

"Lightning isn't always lethal, as I just demonstrated. If I'd wanted you dead in that fight, do you really think I would scratch your head, rather than send an arc of fire through your brain? Or wouldn't simply shoot the bolt that knocked you down through your heart?" Azula replied.

"Fine," Zuko replied irritably, "But you still attacked me instead of the Avatar when the three of us met."

"I was trying to take the weaker combatant out of the fight. Again, I was specifically _avoiding_ killing you, or I would have done away with you one of the many times I knocked you to the ground. As for our other battles, we have your escape from Boiling Rock, where, if I wanted you dead, I would simply have melted the cable, and our skirmish on top of the blimps, where I actually was trying to kill you after a warning shot, and only your friends saved you."

"What warning shot? And there, you just admitted you did want me dead,"

"What warning shot? I hit you multiple times. Slightly more force and you'd have fallen. And yes, after you showed you weren't going to surrender after fair warning, and had clearly followed through with your treasonous plan to assist the Avatar in killing Ozai, yes, I tried to kill you," she ground out.

"Four days ago, we fought our duel. There's no way you weren't trying to kill me then."

"It is true that if you hadn't blocked any one of my attacks, it would have been lethal for you, but that applies to your blasts as well. But _honestly, Zuzu,_ I shot you with _lightning,_ with Sozin's Comet in the sky, and you _aren't dead_. That should tell you I never wanted you gone," Azula spat, rising again, her voice increasing in volume.

"It only wasn't fatal because I was partially redirecting it," Zuko replied, stepping toward her.

"Even if you believe that delusion, you were on the ground, unable to move, and there was no way the waterbender could block any attack I made against you. Even if you think it slipped my mind, I have the perfect opportunity to dispose of you right now if I so choose," She continued, casually pointing toward him with her left index and middle fingers. "_I… never… wanted… you… dead_," she finished.

Zuko stepped back. "Fine," he said, throwing his hands up, "you didn't want me gone, but you still advocated for the extermination of the Earth Kingdom. Countless innocent lives, for your own power."

"_What?"_

"I was perfectly clear," Zuko said, striding up to his sister.

"Did the plan change significantly while I was home?" Azula asked, stepping forward, putting her face centimeters away from Zuko's. "Because extermination was not in the plan last time I heard. Let me see if this sounds familiar. The airship fleet is _all together_ and flies toward _uninhabited coastline._ It advances toward Ba Sing Se, leaving behind a very visible, long-lasting demonstration of our power behind it. Then, untouchable, we give the citizens of the city a show. Because that's the plan as I made it: a publicity stunt, to destroy the earthbender rebels' hope."

"But… that isn't… at Ozai's coronation you said you wanted to burn everything to the ground,"

At the words _Ozai's coronation_, the torch flames again reached the ceiling, and Azula's face twisted in anger. Zuko stepped back.

"Yes, everything directly between the fleets' starting point and the outer walls," she finished, icy.

"And, aside from all that, you need me," she said, settling back into the throne, and smirking.

"How?"

"You want peace in the world. Maintaining it, even under the best of circumstances, will be extraordinarily difficult. The Earth Kingdom isn't terribly united under the best of circumstances. After a war of this magnitude, renegade warlords and common bandits will run rampant. And that's leaving aside the many problems of negotiating with the new earth government you'll need to install. My point in all of this is you need, at very least, unquestioned control of the Fire Nation. And without me, you won't have it, even supported by the Avatar. Four ninths of the military was loyal to Ozai personally, and believed in his philosophies of strength. Two ninths were loyal to the position of Fire Lord, and the remaining third is mine. With me publically supporting your regime, you'll face minimal dissention and rebellion. With me publically opposing it, and personally leading the rebellion against you, the nation will fall apart." Her smirk had not left her face.

"What are your terms?"

"Personal freedom, obviously, and retention of my rank and titles. I am also to be kept informed of all negotiations with the other nations, and would have the authority to perform such negotiations myself."

"So you would have as much power as me," Zuko said, eyes narrowing.

"Yes. We'd share power, though you would retain absolute sovereignty in theory. In practice, however, we would need to agree to do anything important. Oh don't look so glum, Zuko. I want the same thing you do, now. Peace and stability."

"Why do I find that hard to believe? Oh right, you tried to take over the world, with father," Zuko said, eyes narrowing.

"Well you should believe me, Zuko. You and the Avatar both oppose me. I can't take your position without civil war, due to how obvious a power grab that would be, and the Avatar would still stand in my way. So I can't reasonably fulfill that plan. Given that, why would I not want peace and prosperity?" She said sweetly.

Zuko heard an echo of his uncle _She's crazy, and needs to go down. _But he also remembered him saying _It is never too late to start doing the right thing._

"Fine. I accept your terms. Just one more thing: how do I know you won't lose control again?" Zuko asked, softly.

Azula closed her eyes. A full five second later, she reopened them, looked away, and said "Because that was a result of unique circumstances. It can't happen again. I won't let it."

"Explain. Please, it will help."

Silence.

"Let me help you," Zuko implored.

Azula stood up, meeting his eyes, and Zuko saw a single tear contrasting with her angry expression. "Everyone I cared about betrayed me. First, _you._ After everything I did for you, after giving you everything you said you wanted at my own expense, you left to join the enemy of our nation. Then Mai, to protect you. Then Ty Lee, to protect _her._ But I held together, because I still had father. My most important ally and mentor, whose affection for me and trust in me had never wavered. And then he left me, shunting me aside while performed the most important publicity stunt in history. On the most important day of his reign, he didn't want me by his side. I told him he couldn't treat me like some tool, to be used and discarded, and he said he would reward my loyalty. He made me Fire Lord. And then proceeded to make that position utterly meaningless. After I crushed Sako's rebellion for him, after impeccable service, after I had given him the greatest military victory in history, after I personally risked my life for him, he… he just…" She trailed off, crying.

Zuko stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his little sister. Azula hugged him back.


	2. Meetings

After a quick session with a terrified royal barber, Azula set out to meet the people soon to be her traveling companions, former friends and enemies alike. She started with Ty Lee.

Azula found her first friend in the royal garden, looking quite different than normal in her Kyoshi outfit and makeup, sitting by the lake. From ten feet away, far enough to blast Ty Lee before she had any chance to get close to her, _just in case,_ she called out "I thought you didn't like those outfits."

At the sound of her voice, Ty Lee flinched, then turned toward the princess with happy surprise and fear competing on her face. Her expression settled into a big grin, as usual.

"Well, it _is_ a bit harder to move around in them, and I really like pink better, but they aren't so bad. Besides, I made friends with some of other Kyoshi warriors," the acrobat said. "In prison," She added, pointedly, or at least as close as she ever got, and her grin disappeared as her eyes narrowed.

Anger flickered across Azula's face, and she replied harshly, "Treason. And assault of a member of the royal family. Those were your crimes, the punishments for which are permanent exile and death, respectively." Thin tendrils of blue flame appeared, and trailed from her fingers. "And you complain because I put you in jail? I didn't even _hurt _you."

Ty Lee's eyes began to water, and the fire disappeared from Azula's hands.

Stepping slowly forward, the princess said "Because I forgive you. I'm going to leave with Zuko and the Avatar's group for Ba Sing Se. I won't punish you if you decide to stay behind. But I want you to come with me."

"Of course I will! You're my friend," said Ty Lee, bounding forward and hugging her.

Azula hugged her back, and smirked. _Fear, guilt, gratitude, appeal to friendship, all in sequence, and she never really wanted to leave. And years of fear don't go away with a single sentence, even if it was true. She couldn't have said no._

"Glad to hear it. But honestly, pink suits you much better, and besides, I thought you didn't want to part of a matched set," she said, letting go.

"Yeah, I know. And I can't really move around as well. I'll change back. So what happened since I saw you last?"

"It's a bit of a long story."

"Why don't you tell me over lunch? We can have those little puff-balls, and the pork ribs, with that red sauce, and those adorable spice flakes, and ice cream, and…"

Azula smiled at how little Ty Lee had changed, and went with her.

Later, Azula walked to Mai's house, and knocked on the front door.

_Ty Lee was a logical first choice; easiest to convince and more important to me than Mai. But I still want this to go well. It will be tricky._

Mai opened the door, her face completely blank. "Zuko told me he let you out, and why. What do you want from me?"

"I wanted to know where we stand."

"Where do you think? Zuko told me your justifications, your excuses. I appreciate what small measure of mercy you showed me, and the favor to my father. But there is something I didn't quite catch: how did you excuse your actions at the Boiling Rock?" said Mai, the barest hint of anger on her face.

"I was going to attack you, yes. But I wasn't going to kill you," Azula replied calmly.

"You were going to torture me," Mai said, eyes narrowing.

"You knew the consequences. And they were merciful considering your crime. Besides, you had already shown lackluster service, during the two battles in Ba Sing Se," said Azula, coldly.

"And you still want me to be your friend?"

"Yes."

"Well, it doesn't work like that. Your "mercy" was just you being less cruel than you could have been. Your favors and tolerance pale in comparison to your punishment for disobedience. Azula, you aren't my enemy. In fact, you are my ally, and I would like to become friends again. But I don't know if that's possible, and it certainly won't happen until you earn it," Mai replied. "Leave."

Azula left, walking down toward where the recently released prisoners were temporarily living, near the harbor.

_Well, that could certainly have gone better. Can't she see that she betrayed me, so she should be the one apologizing? Fine. But it isn't hopeless with her either. And even though she has control over her fear of me, it isn't gone. I should…_

Her thoughts were interrupted as a couple rounded a corner, entering her sight, and she recognized them as Suki and Sokka.

An instant later, they saw her. Both reacted with the quick reflexes of those used to combat, Sokka drawing his boomerang and sword, grateful that Aang had recovered them, and Suki her two tessen fans, fear showing on her face before resolve eclipsed it.

"Suki, run!"

"No Sokka, I'm staying with you."

"Now really, aren't you being a bit melodramatic?" Azula said inclining her head in condescension. "I'm not here to fight you. In fact, we'll be travelling together for some time, so you should really get used to me."

"But – but you're – not – what is going on here?" Sokka spluttered.

"I'll be working with your group and my brother, as we remake the world."

"After everything you did?" asked Suki, angrily.

"Yes."

"No. This it too weird. Clearly, this is all a dream, or Toph slipped me some cactus juice, or…" Sokka trailed off.

"So will you two be able to work with me, or will you let your emotional issues get in the way?"

"After what you did to me?" Suki asked.

"Oh please. I captured your entire group without killing any of you. Then I asked you some questions about the Avatar's group. I said your friends would die if you lied, I meant it, and you knew it. So I got the information I wanted without actually harming any of you, beyond a little emotional trauma. But if you two want to make trouble, feel free. It won't make a difference."

"But during the eclipse, you implied…" Sokka began

"Repeat those first four words, genius. I played for time."

The young warrior gritted his teeth and fell silent.

"When you turn on us, we'll be ready," Suki said.

"Suit yourselves," said Azula, indifferent.

Azula continued down toward the harbor, seeing Aang, Toph, and Katara huddled around their bison, relaxing, away from anyone else, on a rocky beach.

Appa noticed her first, getting to his six feet and growling. The others turned.

The Avatar leapt to his feet, pointing his staff at her, while the waterbender drew a large globule from the ocean behind her, ready, while the earthbender raised three torso-sized rocks from the ground. Azula didn't react.

After a moment, Katara asked "How did you escape? After the comet left the sky and you collapsed, I personally put you in your cell, and you shouldn't have been able to leave."

"Well, the frame on that door needed work. But Zuko let me out, after a reconciliation," Azula said. "Furthermore, I retain my titles and privileges, and will be accompanying you to Ba Sing Se and possibly beyond." She watched the Avatar intently. She could see intense distrust and dislike, but knew he would respond favorably to her coming alone, and not reacting.

"What are you doing here?" the monk demanded.

"I am simply informing you of what happened. I'm obviously not here to fight you," Azula said. _Or I would have opened with lightning from long range._

"Zuko really let you out? He'll confirm it when I ask him?" Aang asked.

_I can see it on his face: he wants to believe everyone deserves a second chance, that everyone can be "redeemed." And he's happy for my brother._

"Yes," she replied simply.

"That's great. I'm so glad that you and Zuko were able to make it work!" said Aang, sincerity written on his face.

"Aang, how can say that? This is _Azula!_ She tried to kill us all. She _did_ kill you!" Katara said, furious. "What are you planning?" she said, addressing the princess.

"Nothing. Peace and prosperity for the world are now in my best interests," said Azula.

"You can't possibly believe her!" Katara said.

"Yeah, she isn't exactly the honest type," said Toph.

"I believe everyone deserves a second chance. It's never too late. Azula, I forgive you," said Aang, lowering his staff. Toph and Katara followed his lead, lowering their elements. Distrust and caution were still painted on Aang's young face, but Azula could tell he was sincere.

"Thank you."

"Aang?" Katara said.

"What? It worked out with Zuko. And she could be a valuable ally," the Avatar replied.

Katara sighed pointedly. "Fine. But I will keep a close eye on you."

"I don't trust you either," Toph said.

"It won't make a difference," Azula said.

Aang turned to his bison "So buddy, what do you think?" Appa growled his disapproval.

The next morning, the nine of them left: Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Aang, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Sokka on Appa, with Azula easily keeping up in her balloon. The morning journey was uneventful. They set down at midday in clearing by a rocky stream, in a lightly forested area.

"Does she hug _everyone?"_ Sokka asked.

Ty Lee grinned. Katara and Suki, her latest victims, rolled their eyes.

"Yes," said Azula and Mai simultaneously.

Sokka looked from Azula to Ty Lee, and back, disbelief on his face. "Even…"

Zuko looked up from his lunch, smiling, and said "Yeah, she even hugged my father once."

The small smile left Azula's face. "Zuko…" she began.

"Something's coming!" Toph interrupted.

A figure emerged from behind the nearest cluster of trees. It was a little over eight feet tall, androgynous, emaciated, with long, sticklike limbs, incredibly pale skin dressed in loose black cloth, with grey ovals around the eyes, and bright red lipstick. A cold, predatory smile appeared on its face, and it stepped forward, waiting on the opposite side of the stream.

Aang and Ty Lee stepped forward, and everyone else got to their feet in fighting stances.

The cold smile never wavered, as its grey eyes turned solid black, and a thick, dark smoke enveloped the figure, staying within a few inches of its skin.

It swept its left hand forward, and a forceful gust of wind knocked Aang and Ty Lee backwards. Aang stabilized himself twenty feet back, but Ty Lee had no way to steer herself in the air, and flew into a tree, knocked unconscious on impact.

The figure hadn't finished its motion when a bolt of blue fire hit it in the chest; the smoke at the area of impact parted, then returned a fraction of a second later, with no apparent damage done.

It darted forward, dodging Toph's boulders and Katara's icicle, sending an arc of fire at Zuko, Mai, and Suki with its right hand, while blocking Aang's air slice with its left.

Sokka ducked between the figures attacks, swinging his sword straight through the pillar of rock the figure tried to defend itself with.

But it twisted back, barely avoiding the Sokka's attack on its right arm, and bringing his left almost right to Sokka's chest. Katara raised a thin shield of water between the figure and her brother, but its fire attack was too powerful, knocking Sokka unconscious and burning him.

It continued its twisting motion, sending out an explosion of fire and air, knocking all its opponents back.

Azula sent a double arc at it, and it dodged and turned its attention to her. She ducked out of the way of a small boulder, realizing a fraction of a second too late that it was a distraction. She pushed herself into the air with fire, but was unable to avoid the rocks closing in on her legs completely, and they broke her right ankle, destabilizing her flight. She was barely able to boil an icicle-tipped water tentacle with a quick bolt, and couldn't completely deflect the stream of fire the figure followed it up with. She was blasted backwards, and suddenly the air around her slammed her into the ground. She felt her right arm snap on impact as she landed on it; then she bounced, collided with a tree, and winced as multiple ribs broke. Intense pain shot through her, but she dismissed it with the ease of long practice, and began pushing herself up, bracing against the tree.

The figure raised its hand toward Azula. A dagger embedded itself in its hand, and five razor-sharp rocks flew past her.

The figure turned back to its other opponents, deflecting Mai's daggers and one of Suki's thrown fans with airbending, and dashed toward Toph, dodging Aang's fire blast and Katara's wave, but taking Zuko's attack, again with no noticeable effect beyond a temporary parting of its shadowy cloak.

Toph sent a large boulder at it, but it split the rock in two, and landed right in front of the young earthbender. It brought its hands forward, a bolt of flame in each. Toph raised a sheet of rock in front of her, and it absorbed most of the impact, but the force still sent her flying backward.

She metalbent her bracelet into a swinging blade as she flew back, nicking the pale skin of the figure through its cloak.

Katara used this distraction to impale it through the right shoulder with an ice spike. It appeared unconcerned, bending the water back out of itself to block Zuko's firebolt.

While it was so occupied, Aang hit it with torso-sized rock, knocking it up and back. It stabilized in the air, and landed next to Mai and Suki, sending out another spherical blast of air to knock them off their feet.

It raised several large rocks, about to crush the nonbenders, when Zuko hit it with a large fire blast.

It turned toward Zuko, still wounded from his duel with his sister, feinted with a blast of fire and stone flechettes, and engulfed him in ice as he dodged, absorbing Zuko's counterattack and dodging Aang and Katara's icicle storm.

Katara started to waterbend the ice from Zuko, leaving Aang as the figures sole attacker for a moment.

Azula saw Aang pause for a split second, and knew what he was trying to do. But trying to enter the Avatar state with an opponent's full attention on him could be fatal. And indeed, she saw the figure focusing fully on him, about to exploit the momentary weakness in the transition. But that meant that it wasn't looking at her, and though fire required the breath that was in short supply with broken ribs, lightning didn't.

The bolt leapt from Azula, propped painfully against her tree, to the figure, preparing its strike against Aang. The figure's shadowy cloak was blasted completely off, and the fire around its hands went out.

Aang's eyes glowed white, and the figure fled on a small cyclone of air. No one pursued.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: that was random," Said Toph, twenty minutes later. "Ow! Watch it, Katara."

"Sorry, digging rock fragments out of your side is going to hurt," she replied wearily.

"Okay, that's the last of them," she said a couple minutes later. She made her way over to Azula, lying on the ground. Azula met her eyes, and saw that her near-hatred had already softened noticeably from what it had been half an hour ago.

_And just for insisting she heal the others first. Goodness, people like her are easy to manipulate. Of course, fighting with someone against a common enemy helps too. Still, a while to go with her._

"I'm impressed," Azula lied, a few minutes later. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Katara replied, after a brief hesitation.

"Okay, now that everyone's conscious and healed, let's discuss what in the world just happened," said Sokka.

"Isn't it obvious?" Said Azula, "A spirit."

"Yeah, it didn't have any aura at all," Ty Lee added.

"Aang?" Sokka asked.

"I know I'm supposed to be the expert, but I have no idea what spirit that was, or why it would want to attack us. Normally they mind their own business, unless you disturb them, or destroy…the…environment. I think it could have been Ozai. The airship fleet made a huge scar on the land, and it must have released this thing."

"Okay, but how did it bend? Spirits can't normally do that, right?" Suki asked.

"Well, actually, they can, occasionally. The ocean spirit, for example," Aang replied.

"Really, we're in the dark here. We need more information, and random guesses won't help us. Let's just get to Ba Sing Se," Mai said.

"Good idea," Zuko replied.

The rest of their trip west passed without incident.

_ I suppose it's natural for them: Ty Lee is happy to make new friends, Mai and Zuko are happy to be together, the rest are simply happy they won. Let them have tea with uncle, I'll talk to him later, alone. I have business to attend to. _

Azula walked down the streets of the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, heading for a specific supposedly abandoned building, a brown cloak over her usual light armor.

It was a rough part of town, and the sun was setting, so, to save time, she selected her walk as a confident stroll that any intelligent criminal would know to avoid.

_Of course, petty criminals aren't exactly known for their intelligence_ she thought, annoyed, as young man with a knife stepped out of an alley.

_Let's see, teenage nonbender, untrained, poor stance, crude knife, starving, presumably turned to crime in desperation._

"Give me your money!" he said.

Azula, in one smooth motion, ducked under the knife, grabbed the hand wielding it, broke the wrist, and slammed the irritation painfully against the wall, his arm now outstretched behind him. The knife clattered to the ground. She smirked, and pressed forward, breaking his shoulder and twisting his arm further. Another twist elicited another cry of pain, and she let go, continuing on, and left him whimpering.

After walking a few more blocks, her brow furrowed.

_ Normally I keep my impulses under control. Small cracks lead to larger ones. And what happened during the day of the comet can _never _happen again. Besides, I certainly need to keep a level head now._

She arrived at her destination, and knocked on the shoddy door. A deep voice replied "Password?"

"Earth earth fire earth water."

The door opened. A man in the robes of the Dai Li stepped back, eyes widening as he recognized her.

"Take me to headquarters," Azula commanded.

"Of course, Princess."

They went through the tunnels, arriving in the old city, and went to the commander's office, a sparse room of grey stone, with a single stone table with a map of the Earth Kingdom, one throne, one smaller chair to its immediate right, and many smaller ones around the table. The room was illuminated with flickering green flames.

Upon arriving, Azula noticed, with satisfaction, that lieutenant Youshou had already made his way here, and had assumed command in her absence, but hadn't attempted to take control, as he was on the lower throne. He seemed surprised to see her, but there was no hesitation in his kowtow.

"So tell me, Lieutenant, how do the Dai Li fare?" she asked, seating herself in the commander's chair.

"We were stripped of all political power by the Order of the White Lotus upon their reconquest of the city. However, we retain our information network, and there have been no moves to arrest any of us yet."

"Good. The political situation?"

"Fluid. We'll have the latest reports from around the kingdom tomorrow. King Bumi is acting as temporary monarch, until Kuei arrives."

"Where is Kuei?" She asked.

"In Lung Hai Gong, to the north. He will arrive in a few days," Youshou replied.

"And my projects?" Azula said.

"Long Feng lost our tail, last seen in the east."

Azula narrowed her eyes, then made the "carry on" gesture.

"Lady Ursa hasn't been seen for years. Last we had any information on her, she was leaving Omashu," the lieutenant continued.

"Hmm, make it known to everyone, especially your shadier contacts, that there is money in information about her, and a large bounty on her, but only if she's alive," said Azula.

"As for your other project, it's ready to go. Just tell us what name you want, and we can frame that person for Lu Ten's assassination."

"Leave the name blank for now. That reminds me, where is Iroh?"

"As far as we can tell, he isn't interested in politics. He lets the other members of the order take care of that, while running his tea shop. He's expanded it a bit, so he lives as well as works there."

"Thank you. You seem troubled, lieutenant," she said, faking concern flawlessly.

"Uh, it's just that, last time we met, you banished me, for 'lax service.'"

"Oh, I had hoped you would see through that. Ozai had made it clear that he didn't want anyone loyal to me over him in the capital. I had to make up an excuse and get rid of you, so I did," Azula lied. "But I know you're loyal to me. And I reward such service. If there's something I can do for you, you have only to ask."

"Thank you, Princess. Nothing comes to mind at the moment."

"Carry on, Youshou, and keep me informed," Azula said, leaving.

For the second time that week, Iroh woke up to see Ozai's child sitting beside him. Of course, his niece was sending a very different message.

"Azula. Would you like some tea?" he said, without so much as flinching.

"Green. But I'm not here for your tea," she replied.

"Be patient. There is no conversation that tea cannot improve."

She waited. When he served them, she said "I assume Zuko has told you of our situation."

"Yes, he has," Iroh said, eyes narrowed.

"The alliance between us is necessary. And it will be much easier when he trusts me," Azula said.

"And you want me to vouch for you," Her uncle replied.

"Yes," she said, sipping her tea.

"Azula, trust is earned. Tell me, what do you regret?"

"How is that relevant?"

"Accept that it is. And tell the whole truth."

"Fine. I regret allowing Mai and Zuko to get back together, because if I hadn't, she would never have betrayed me. I regret allowing various people to live when I conquered this city, because if I had executed you, Katara, Toph, and Sokka, the Avatar would have stayed dead, and the original plan would have worked. And I regret not seeing through my father's lies sooner," She replied.

Iroh sighed. "I told you to be honest, and I am glad that you were. But I cannot vouch for you in good faith. Tell me, do you regret using fear to control your friends?"

"No,"

"Even when it did not work?"

"It _did _work. My mistake was using too little, allowing them too much, being too merciful."

Iroh sighed again. "I do not think I can help you. You look at things the wrong way. Mercy is not weakness. It is a sign of greater strength. For example, why did you decide to begin our conversation as you did?"

"To show that I wasn't here to harm you. So that we could talk without tensely watching each other's every move."

"No. It does not work like that. Starting a conversation with threats, instead of trusting, does not foster trust in return. I can vouch for the necessity of your alliance, and I trust that you will serve your own goals, and that they overlap sufficiently with Zuko's. But I cannot trust you, until you prove that you are worthy of that trust. And I will advise Zuko the same way," Iroh said, sadly.

He finished his tea, and said, "There is only one person I can think of who can help you, and I do not know where she is. Find her, talk to her, then confront your father, then talk to me again, and I may reconsider,"

"Zuko and I will be busy with politics for at least a few months. You know it would be best for the world if you vouch for me."

"I said I would vouch for the necessity of your alliance, and that your interests support your adherence to it."

"Thank you, uncle," Azula said, and left.


	3. Lung Hai Gong

Azula made her way from the Jasmine Dragon to a random inn, eschewing her chambers in the palace in favor of getting some sleep with no one watching her. It was still a few hours to sunrise, so she would be well-rested the following morning. As always, she fell asleep within minutes; as usual, nightmares haunted her rest.

_She was looking at Kona, her healer, held in place by guards. She looked to her father, tears streaming down her young face, and knew by his unyielding face that she would have to. She extended her left hand, palm forward, and red fire leapt from it, hitting Kona in the chest._

_She was encased in ice; her enemy's face inches from her hand. She knew she could firebend in such circumstances, for she had done so before. But it wouldn't come to her now. No matter how she tried, she couldn't reach through her rage and madness to access the technique, and she watched helplessly as the peasant bound her._

_She was showing her father her new move, the arc of fire. Four flawless arcs left her in sequence, one from each limb. Three more followed, but the eighth, from her right leg, faltered. Her eyes widened, and her father's narrowed. _No, no please father! Let me try again, I'll do it perfectly this time! No, no don't AAAHHH!

Her eyes flicked open. She sighed and rose.

She paid the innkeeper, went out to the well, and drew a bucket of water. She placed her left hand inside, middle and index fingers extended, froze it by bending the heat out of it with her right hand. She lifted her left arm, prying the ice out of the bucket, then shot a bolt of blue fire at the well, easily sublimating the ice. She frowned, and went through the sequence again. And again. Her frown turned to an angry grimace. _Easy. Trivial. I should have been able to do it. It must never happen again. _She clenched her fists, then relaxed and turned to leave, face returning to normal. _Never again._

She saw someone spying on her from the inn's back window, a boy, about Zuko's age.

She strode up to him, and demanded, "Tell me why you're watching me,"

He blushed, not meeting her gaze for a second, then his eyes found hers again before sliding downward.

_Oh. Not important, then._

"I was just…" he began, but she turned and walked away.

It was two hours past sunrise, so the others would be getting up soon. She went to headquarters to pick up the latest reports, then to the palace. Zuko's quarters were empty, so she went to the main hall. Sure enough, he was having breakfast with all the others.

As usual, they all tensed at her approach and turned to regard her. Ty Lee and Aang were perfectly cheerful, the former waving to her and making room between herself and Zuko. The Fire Lord was happy but cautious; the soon-to-be fire lady had no expression. Toph's face was blank as well. The water siblings looked angry and suspicious, sharing those sentiments with Suki.

"I have some bad news," said Azula, seating herself.

"Where were you?" Katara interrupted.

"Speaking to the Dai Li and my uncle, then sleeping."

"The Dai Li?" Sokka asked. "Zuko, are you sure that…"

"I didn't know about this," the scarred man replied. "Azula?"

"You agreed to let me keep all my titles. Commander of the Dai Li is one of them."

Zuko scowled.

"I don't like this. Do remember what happened last time they got together?" said Toph.

"I remember," said Katara, glaring at Zuko. "What _exactly_ were the terms of your deal?"

"I let my sister have her freedom, titles, and privileges, save for visiting Ozai for three months. I keep her informed, and we have to agree on any important decisions for the nation," Zuko replied. "In return, she does not press her own claim to the throne, she…"

"What claim? Isn't she the younger sibling?" Sokka interrupted.

"I am, but Fire Lords have the right to choose their successors from among their children, and Ozai chose me over Zuko," Azula said, smirking.

"But you dueled for the throne, and you lost," said Katara, returning the expression.

Azula's face twisted briefly. "It's quite murky what the official judgment would have been. I attacked a spectator, but you were in the ring, and I did defeat my brother. Either way, if I pressed my claim, we'd have a civil war. But that doesn't matter, because I am supporting my brother's rule," she said, relaxing.

"So you say," said Suki, eyes narrowed.

"And you should believe it. Even if I won the war, it's unlikely I would have enough military forces left to successfully take over the world. And I would have you to deal with, of course."

"So you're saying that you still wish you could have taken over," Sokka accused.

"Yes. But because that's impossible, or at least extremely unlikely now, I support peace," the princess replied.

"Zuko, what else did she give you?" asked Katara.

"She would support my rule in any way she could, including training me, and Aang if he wanted. Notably, her public support will certainly cut down on the inevitable rebellions that come with such a radical shift in rule and policy," said Zuko.

"And did she apologize for trying to murder us at any point?" the waterbender pressed.

"No. I didn't, and I won't," said Azula.

"Aang?" asked Katara, requesting his input.

"She's being honest, and I respect her for that," said the Avatar.

"She _killed_ you! And she almost did twice before that!" Katara protested.

"Actually, those other two times, before you intervened at the abandoned Earth Kingdom town, and on top of the drill, I was going to cripple him and take him back to the Fire Nation," Azula interrupted.

"Oh, that's _so_ much better!" Katara spat.

"She also saved me," said Aang, quietly.

"In the heat of battle," Katara said, still angry.

"Like the times you mentioned weren't?" Azula asked, sarcastically.

Katara let out a mixture of a growl and a sigh. "You really think she should be allowed to act on her own?" she asked, addressing everyone.

"Yes," Ty Lee replied instantly, wrapping her arm around Azula, who smiled.

"I do," Zuko said, after a second, but with finality.

"Not me," Toph interjected.

"I abstain," said Mai, turning her level gaze to the princess, whose smile faded.

"Eh, I don't…No. Definitely not," Sokka said.

"I don't either," Suki agreed.

"No. Forgiveness and trust are two separate things, and she hasn't earned trust," Aang said.

"Five to two. I think it's decided, then," Katara said.

"Zuko, that would be unacceptable." Azula carefully enunciated the last word, turning it into a threat.

The Fire Lord looked to Katara, then his sister. "I honor my agreements, and the decision is mine."

"I don't like this," the waterbender protested.

"Katara, you agree that you'd rather have me as an ally than an enemy," Azula began.

"You're threatening us? You don't think you would win against the eight of us, do you?" Katara interrupted.

_If I wanted you all dead, you would be. Or do you not realize the danger of flying on a giant, fuzzy, electrically conductive target in front of a lightningbender? Apparently they didn't, but I'll bring it up later._

Azula sighed, exasperated. "I don't want that fight any more than you do. It's true that the odds of me winning such a battle are low. However, the odds of you all surviving it are miniscule," her eyes moved from Katara to Suki, Toph, Sokka, then Aang, resting briefly on each one, stopping on the Avatar's face, which showed deep concern. "Anyway, if you're quite finished squabbling, we have pressing business, so let us attend to it."

Begrudging agreement travelled around the table, and she continued.

"As I was saying, I have bad news. Earth King Kuei has disappeared from Lung Hai Gong, and there is strong evidence of foul play. Accounts differ: some say he was assassinated, some say he was captured, some that he escaped. If the formost, we should confirm it before finding a new Earth King; if either of the latter, we need to find him."

They finished breakfast, then headed to the palace courtyard, where Appa and a war balloon waited. A lemur landed on Azula's shoulder, and she batted it aside in irritation. Momo landed on the ground in front of her, and regarded her sadly. She created a hollow cone of fire around it with the tip at her left hand, and it fled. Appa saw the fire, growled, roared, and reared up.

"Don't do that!" Aang shouted angrily. Azula turned to see eight disapproving glares, clenched her fist, extinguishing the flames, and sighed in irritation.

"Then keep your pets away from me," she said, turning to inflate her balloon.

"Zuko, with me," She commanded. "Okay," Zuko said hesitantly.

"What did you want?" he asked, once they were all airborne. He stood at the bow, watching Appa and the other seven as they flew ahead, while she reclined on her sparse luggage at the port stern.

"First, I wanted to thank you for holding to the terms, and vouching for me," she said, casually sending a blast of blue fire curving into the furnace.

"I didn't have much choice, and I don't appreciate being manipulated," he turned to face her, frowning.

"I honestly thought you knew."

"I'm sure," he said, skeptically. She scowled briefly.

"Second, I want to keep you informed. We may meet with the Earth King soon, and you need to know their political and military situation, and ours. Otherwise you may make idealistic promises with disastrous consequences."

"Like what?"

"Like ordering our troops to withdraw without sufficient preparation. Here's what you need to know. The Earth Kingdom stands divided. The various smaller cities and castles in the south traditionally answer to the king of Omashu, and that control was broken with the fall of that city. The reconquest hasn't instantly solved that problem, and many of our colonies down there are strongly considering rebellion. In short, the south is a mess, and isn't about to get much better very quickly.

The eastern spit of land appears internally united, but won't answer to Ba Sing Se. It will be either one of the least problematic territories or the most, depending on how things go.

The west is more complicated. Politically, there isn't much to be concerned with. Our colonies are old and loyal, and the earth cities answer to the capital. There is some disunity, but less than would be expected of a region that size.

What concerns me is the rumors, especially in light of what we encountered there on our way to the capital. I have reports of important figures disappearing and reappearing, of battles between forces that wouldn't fight each other, and of massacres on the summer solstice that don't actually seem to have happened."

She paused, sending another curved firebolt into the furnace. Zuko scowled again.

Azula sighed. "What is it? Why do always take me firebending in front of you as some kind of personal insult?"

"I wonder," He replied sarcastically.

"You should get used to it, especially given that I will be teaching you."

"I guess I just don't appreciate you showing off. I thought you'd stop without dad around to constantly tell you how great you were."

"When I show off, you'll know it. And it was never like that,"

"Oh, I'm sure it was so hard, being Father's favorite."

Azula's face twisted briefly. When she spoke, her voice was icy anger.

"Zuko, I don't want to hear about your misconceptions about my training with father. Bring it up again, and I will take it at a sign of _disrespect."_

A flare a rage passed across his face; he struggled with it momentarily, then concern replaced it.

"When you want to talk, I'll be here for you," He said, softly.

"When we pull our troops out, even if we do it very carefully, there will be chaos. Minimizing it will be the first aim of both parties during our negotiations with the Earth King. Having to find a new one will not help," She let the moment pass, her voice returned to normal. "Also of note: while most cities do resent and fear us, some are happier under our rule, and some weren't there before we built them. I'm not sure what you intend to do in those cases.

And one final point: we still have the capability to outright conquer the Earth Kingdom. The walls of Ba Sing Se and the bridges of Omashu won't stand against our airships, and the earth army is a pathetic remnant of its former self, while our military is still strong. I know you oppose this option, but it does exist, and its existence will affect our negotiations,"

She stood, walking up to her brother and standing beside him.

"It's too soon to tell how our military, islands, and colonies will react beyond generalities. Just know that they aren't obedient out of duty, or honor. They obey us out of fear. Of you, of each other, but mostly of me," She let out a small, wry chuckle, and added,

"I did plan for this contingency. But I never thought it a likely one. We're on the same side again."

"Family sticks together," Zuko said, putting an arm around Azula's shoulders.

_Compassion is weakness. _She heard her father's voice, speaking his first, most important lesson, and ignored it. Zuko had never been able to lie to her, and though he was clearly conflicted, she could see, hear, and feel his deep care for her.

"Family sticks together," She turned her head, meeting his gaze, and said "Mom's alive, or at least she got out of the Fire Nation alive. She was last seen by Dai Li agents leaving Omashu, almost three years ago. They are an extraordinarily valuable asset."

"We have to find her. Father had no idea where she was."

"We will. But with only very old reports, we should focus on making sure the war is really over. In fact, the most likely way for us to find her is for her to find us. I assume you've revoked her banishment." He nodded. "And I have the Dai Li on the lookout. If she isn't a prisoner somewhere, she should get to us within a few months, depending on how remote her home is. If she is a prisoner, I'm sure we can _negotiate_ with her captor, one way or another."

"Thanks," Zuko said, eyes slightly widened.

"Why so surprised? She's my mother too."

They all set down beside the outer gates of Lung Hai Gong, the largest port on the northern coast. The city had always had strictly defensive policy, hiding behind its walls or adding to the garrison of Ba Sing Se. It hadn't been conquered during the war, as it could be conquered at any time, and posed little threat to the invading armies.

They approached the gate, Aang and Zuko leading.

"Halt! Who goes there?" a guard called down from the gatehouse.

"Hello, I'm Aang, the Avatar."

"I am Fire Lord Zuko. We have urgent business in the city."

"The city is locked down. I am afraid no one is permitted entry. However, given your identities, I will allow you to meet with our lord, under guard. He will decide if you are welcome."

"We accept," Aang said.

The palace was not nearly as lavish as Ba Sing Se's, but there was old strength and pride in the walls. On the throne was a scowling ancient man, dressed in the green robes of Earth Kingdom nobility. _This man had ruled for a long time, longer than he expected to. There was anger in grief in his general composure: the most likely scenario was that he had lost his heir in the war. _The lord met her gaze, recognition on his face, and his posture shifted from simply unwelcoming to openly hostile. Azula tensed_. If he decided to pursue vengeance here and now, this could get very ugly, very fast._

She shifted her weight a bit, gauging the reactions of the two guards holding her arms. _Trained, but lacking real experience: she could still point her fingers towards their hearts. It would take her most of a second to kill them both and escape. _She looked to her brother and the Avatar, the closest to the old lord. Neither were bound, but each was surrounded by four earthbenders, and the lord had two presumably elite ones behind him, one on each side. The other six members of the group also had two guards holding them by the arms. _Assuming the same level of guard competence, that meant they were in no real danger. _The princess relaxed.

"What business does the Fire Lord have in my city?" the lord rasped. "You are not welcome here."

"I'm looking for the Earth King. He was last seen in your city, and we think someone tried to kill or capture him," Zuko replied.

"I think I would know if his majesty came to visit."

"He was travelling in disguise," Aang said. "To avoid assassination."

"I find that extremely unlikely. Leave my city at once."

"Please, we won't be here long. And we aren't enemies; the war is over. We ended it," Zuko said, indicating himself and Aang.

The old man rose in fury. "The war is over? My sons are dead, killed at _her_ command," He pointed to Azula. "They tried to defend Ba Sing Se from your drill, and died of knives in their throats!"

Mai's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, as did Zuko's.

He turned back to Zuko "You bring the Cold Flame here and expect to treat with me? Leave at once, and be grateful I don't arrest you all."

They left the throne room, and were escorted back to the main gate. They went out of sight, and began planning. It was dusk.

"Well, it looks like we're sneaking in," Sokka said.

"Zuko, maybe you should stay out of this one," Azula said.

"Why?"

"The ruler has an irrational grudge against us, and you are quite hard to disguise. I doubt the citizens have any love for Fire Nation people, either."

"Shouldn't you stay out too? And what's with the nickname?" the Fire Lord asked.

"I can disguise myself quite well. As for that title, you don't conquer the earth capital without acquiring a certain reputation among the enemy," She smirked, pulling on her brown cloak and removing the small crown from her hair, letting it fall.

"So, how will we sneak in, and how will we find out what happened to Kuei?" Katara asked.

"I checked out the wall, and it's well-patrolled. Earthbenders would know if we tried to tunnel under, so our best bet would be via the harbor," Toph said.

"And as for finding Kuei, we'll split up, spread some gold around the rough parts of town, and find the information," Sokka said.

"I'm with Azula!" Ty Lee said.

"I'll go with you," Suki said, addressing Sokka.

"I'll go with you too, we need some muscle, after all. And Sugar Queen can go with Aang. Everyone's happy," Toph said.

"What about us?" Mai asked.

"You and Zuko should stay out of the city for now. If we're not back in three hours, you can sneak in and find out what went wrong, and Zuko should be able to figure out something to counter it. Besides, I don't think either of you should go in unless you have to, given what we heard in the throne room," Azula said.

They went to the coast, and then drifted into the docks district under conjured fog, on rafts of ice. Katara took them to an unused pier, creating steps of ice up to it.

"Meet back here in two hours," Azula commanded.

The other two groups departed.

Azula walked with her friend toward the market district.

Ty Lee was bubbling with cheer, as always. "I always liked sunsets; all the colors are so pretty. And a city full of new people is always fun, even though that old guy was very grumpy, most of these people are probably nice,"

Azula noticed a stocky, bearded man watching them from an alley. He seemed unusually interested in her. _An experienced criminal. Those tended to be well-informed._ "Ty Lee," She said, and the acrobat fell silent. Azula walked up to the man, drawing a gold coin out of a pocket in her cloak.

"You look like a knowledgeable man. So, what is the most well-informed tavern in the market district?"

"That would be the Sozzled BatParrot, but that isn't a friendly part of town," His voice, though gruff, was surprisingly kind. "Especially for two lovely young ladies as yourselves."

Ty Lee laughed. Azula smirked, and replied "We can handle ourselves. Now, how do we get there? And have you seen a man with a bear?"

"Afraid not, but to get to the tavern, take this street until you hit the third intersection, turn left, go down another block, turn right, keep going, it will be on your right," He extended his hand, taking the coin. "But I would be careful, the Fire Nation isn't exactly welcome here. Any firebending will set most who see it against you instantly, and the guards will come running."

"Very observant. Have you considered working with the Dai Li?" Azula said.

The man's eyes widened. "How do you know about them?"

"I told you we could handle ourselves." Azula tossed him another gold piece, "For the warning, and you kindly not mentioning us to the guards."

She moved on, and the acrobat followed.

"See? Nice people everywhere, even when you would least expect them. You don't think he'll tell anyone about us, do you?" Ty Lee said.

"No. I paid him well, and I scared him. Even if he did tell someone, it wouldn't be the guards, because he'll habitually avoid them, and other criminals won't act in time to affect us,"

They turned the corner, and heard a scream. Thugs surrounded a cart two blocks down. _Three nonbenders, four decent earthbenders, one good earthbender leading. Given no firebending due to guard risk, they still aren't terribly threatening. The risk to myself would be quite small, were we to intervene, but it would be there, and in the absence of any meaningful reward, we should just keep going._

"Please, this is all we have left. We need it to feed our child!"

Azula started to continue walking toward her destination, but her friend caught her eye, and Ty Lee silently implored her. "Fine. Let's go," Azula said, sprinting toward the mugging in progress.

Twelve seconds later, eight thugs were moaning on the ground, in varying states of pain and paralysis.

"Oh thank you! If you two hadn't shown up, out of nowhere... I don't know what I would have done. I'm sorry, I don't have anything to offer you," The woman said, leaning weakly against the cart.

Ty Lee beamed, and said "It's okay." Azula felt a faint smile on her lips, before returning to her usual expression.

They arrived at the pub with no further annoyances.

Azula slammed the door open, striding through with three gold coins held obviously in her right hand, followed by Ty Lee. "I'm looking for a man, medium height, slender build, tiny glasses, rides a bear. Has anyone seen him?" the princess asked. An ordinary-looking man in the back looked like he was starting to say something, but a massive man, almost seven feet tall, with a thin scar over his right eye, stood up to face her, and the bar fell silent.

"This is my place. I don't appreciate some rich girl coming in here and telling everybody what to do. So how about we settle our disagreement, the old-fashioned way?" His voice was rough and pugnacious.

Azula rolled her eyes. He swung his right fist at her, she ducked under it, and extended her left are to wrap around his exposed right shoulder, then used that leverage to grab and throw the man with no apparent effort. He crashed into an empty table, shock barely registering on his face as he tried to get up before Azula kicked him in the chest, knocking the breath from him, and putting him flat on his back. She then stepped on his neck, deliberately placing her foot at just the right spot, and putting just the right amount of weight on it to cut the flow of blood to his brain, knocking him unconscious within seconds.

"As I was saying…"

"A bear, you said? I know where the crazy bear-man was staying,"

"Take us there,"

He did. There was a large, ragged hole in the wood, as though something had forced its way through. "The innkeeper lets me stay here, in exchange for working for him, and the guy was here just last night,"

Azula handed a coin to him. "Do you know what happened during the attack?"

"Yeah, I was there. A weird guy, really tall, cloaked in black. He broke through the wall. The guy's bear attacked him, and he roasted it. You can see the bloodstain there. The guy tried to run, but the other guy shot him in the back. Firebending. Then the weird guy took the dead guy and flew off," He sighed. "You probably don't believe a word of this,"

"No, I believe you," Azula handed over the other two coins, brow furrowing.

Meanwhile, Aang had gone with Katara, asking random people around the docks if they had seen anything strange, or related to a bear-riding man. That search was entirely fruitless for an hour and a half, before Katara spotted a fishing ship coming back in. She approached the captain, asking him the same. The grizzled old man replied "No bear-riding man, but I did see something strange. A few miles out, there's an island that hasn't ever been there before,"

Aang's eyes widened, and he gave the captain a gold piece. "Katara, I have to go see this."

"Let me come with you. I don't think we're going to find out where Kuei is anyway."

"Okay, hop on," he said, unfolding his glider.

They found the small island within a few minutes of their departure, and landed in the forest.

"It's so big," Katara said. "Are you sure this is all one animal? Aang? What's wrong?"

"I don't like this. It feels different; last time I was here, it felt like a peaceful, ancient place, humming with spiritual energy. Now it's like a normal part of the world, and quiet," said Aang, brow furrowed with worry.

He went to the coast, and dived underwater with Katara. There was enough moonlight to see the lionturtle's still fins. They went around to its head, and Aang had his suspicions confirmed. The great beast's eyes were closed, and it still bled from an icicle in its massive throat.


	4. Peace Terms

"I did not lie to or intentionally mislead her," the man said.

"Yup, he's clean," said the blind earthbender.

Azula had dragged her witness to the docks and found Sokka, Suki and Toph there. The ordinary-looking man was ill at ease in the low light and fog, tensing at every creak of the old pier on which they stood.

Azula dismissed the man, and he hurried away, ignoring Ty Lee's cheerful wave. "Where are the others?" Azula asked.

They fell silent as a pair of dockworkers ambled close enough to hear them over the surf, then resumed conversation as the workers left.

"Not here," Sokka replied.

"We still have five minutes before they should be here, though," Suki said.

They waited another few minutes.

"So I assume you got some information from that guy. Anything useful?" Toph said.

"The Earth King is dead," Azula said. "I'll give you the full story once were all together. Oh look, the others will be here in about a minute, judging by that suspicious fog bank heading towards us."

Said suspicious fog bank arrived, and Aang and Katara swooped down, folding the glider as they landed.

"I have some bad news," said Katara and Ty Lee simultaneously.

"Well, isn't that just perfect?" Sokka said. "Let's go back to Zuko and Mai; don't want to run out of time. They returned, finding the couple by Appa and the balloon.

"You don't have good news, do you?" Zuko said.

"Why don't you go first." Suki addressed Azula.

"You're right, Zuko. Bad news," Azula said. "Kuei is dead."

"Actually, I'd prefer if Ty Lee gave the story," said Toph bluntly, dislike and distrust plain on her young face.

_Cute. Makes sense: Ty Lee can't lie like I can, and the earthbender doesn't trust me._

"Sure," said Azula, indifferent.

"Well, we went through the market district for a while, got directions to a rough bar from some nice guy, went there, saved a woman on the way, we got there, Azula beat up a jerk, and that guy we were just with told us about the Earth King." Her usual grin faded, then she continued, "He saw Bosco, then Kuei murdered by an extremely tall figure, cloaked in black."

Concerned looks passed amongst the group.

"This was going to be hard enough when all the earth lords agreed on a king. Now we have a succession crisis to deal with as well. Kuei had no heirs, so now every two-bit warlord and minor king will be coming to the capital, each pressing their own claim, each with their own army. They don't have a set tradition for failure of the royal line, so it will be whoever wins the civil war.

"And that isn't everything. The spirit we encountered was no local guardian of the environment. It's intelligent and very powerful, and judging by its actions it opposes stability," Azula said. She turned to look at her brother.

"Zuko, it may be best for the Earth Kingdom if…"

"No. I will not be my father." Zuko was adamant.

"What about Bumi?" Suki asked. "He's a good guy, and he's already ruling temporarily."

"He's strongly resented by a vast majority of the earth lords, especially since his surrender of Omashu. No one wants an insane king who will probably die soon anyway," Mai said.

"Well what are we supposed to do then?" said Ty Lee.

"Let's just get back to the capital and discuss this with Iroh and the rest of the White Lotus. If we're lucky, they already have a back-up plan," said Azula. "Now, what was your bad news?"

"The lion turtle is dead." Aang looked worried.

"I really doubt that that's a coincidence," Sokka said. "But why would anyone want the lion turtle dead? It doesn't interfere in human affairs."

"In the absence of other obvious motivations, it's usually because the target knew something that someone didn't want others to know. In this case, probably information about this spirit, which doesn't appear to follow the normal rules," Mai said.

"And we should get some sleep. Though we should go a little farther, maybe half an hour of flight, from this particular city," Azula said, beginning to inflate her war balloon. "Mai, would you come with me?"

"Sure."

Once airborne, Azula addressed her former friend, who had the faintest hint of guilt in her composure. "You know they were just enemy soldiers. And the lord was right: they were my responsibility."

"I know," Mai said. "Why bring it up?"

"I can see it bothers you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've known you a long time. You always understood what war meant; you're too smart to have any illusions on that front. But it hit you, seeing a father grieving for his sons. It's natural, unavoidable." Azula made sure her voice was matter-of-fact.

"What about you? Do you feel guilty?"

"No. I knew the consequences when I gave the order," Azula said.

"But I was the one to actually kill them. If they had met Ty Lee on the battlefield, they'd still be alive now," Mai said.

"You're more effective than she is in large-scale combat. It's nothing to be ashamed of," said Azula.

"Is that all?" Mai seemed irritated.

"Yes, that was all."

Mai turned away from her. A few minutes of silence passed. Then Mai turned back, and said, "Thanks." It might have been a trick of the light, but Azula thought she saw a hint of a smile.

_Making progress. I'm glad I interpreted that correctly. Mai is hard to read. Of course she is; it's why Ozai chose her… _Her thoughts trailed off.

They set down to camp twenty minutes later and quickly set up tents. Sokka began assigning watches.

"I see you haven't volunteered to take a watch," Katara addressed Azula irritably.

"There would be no point. You would make sure to have someone you trust awake during 'my' watch, so I might as well get a full night's sleep," Azula said as she entered her tent. As always, she fell asleep within minutes.

_She was covered in bruises from another day of training, and her kindly old healer looked concerned. She felt the pain leave her as the healer did her job. _Do you think it's possible to heal with fire?_ Kona laughed. _I don't see why not. It's more about the spiritual energy than the water itself. You just need compassion. _Azula made a disgusted face. _Compassion is weakness. _The old woman just looked sad._

_She was laughing as her father picked her up and whirled her around. She reached for his face, grabbing. _Aagh, my beard! My one weakness! Okay, you got me; I'll put you down now. _Her father laughed, and she went over to her mother, who was also smiling. _Happy birthday, Azula. Mom, where's Zuzu? _Her brother leapt out at her from behind a tree, tackling her. _Right here! _They both laughed, but_ _then the dream darkened, her mother and brother faded away, and the cheer left her father's face. _You're five years old now, my daughter. It is time to begin you're training. You're first assignment is simple. Make the turtleducks in the palace garden fear you.

_She was chained to the wall, her father looking at her dispassionately. _Today, you learn how to escape shackles. There are three main ways. Melting or breaking them is usually the easiest. If that doesn't work, and there are metals for which it won't, then try blasting what they're secured to. I haven't left either of those options available, so there's just one way. It almost always works, but it's going to hurt. Break your thumbs. Like this,_ he reached toward her right hand, and she felt a snap._

Azula opened her eyes to see Ty Lee kneeling beside her. "What?" she asked irritably.

"It's morning, and you were tossing and turning," the acrobat said.

_I don't want or need a hug right… Fine. _Azula rolled her eyes, and a couple seconds later, Ty Lee let her go.

The group arrived back at the capital around midday, landing right outside the Jasmine Dragon. They entered, finding the shop empty of customers. Once Iroh served them, they began talking.

"Uncle, we have bad news," Zuko said. "The Earth King is dead."

"Killed by the same spirit we encountered on the way here," Aang added.

"This is indeed disturbing. Spirits generally remain neutral in human affairs." Iroh drank tea pensively.

"We have a more urgent matter to discuss, Uncle," Azula interrupted. "Without Kuei, we need a successor. I was hoping your Order had someone."

"There is an heir: a minor lord in the west, the late king's cousin." Iroh poured himself more tea.

"And is he capable?" Azula asked.

"He should suffice. More importantly, we have proof that he is the heir," Iroh said. "I'll send for him, he should arrive in about a week. Now, describe this spirit."

Aang replied, "It was very tall, and could bend all four elements."

"It was cloaked in this weird shadowy stuff, like really dark smoke," Sokka said.

"It was very fast," added Suki.

"And tough," continued Toph.

"In fact, it was effectively invulnerable while cloaked," Mai said.

"Speed and resilience are common traits among spirits," Iroh said. "What is unusual is its pursuit of a particular person, and this cloak of shadows. Neither trait appeared in my studies, for any spirit. I just do not know."

"But you have your suspicions," Azula said.

Iroh nodded solemnly. "I do. I hope I am mistaken, though. The Avatar is not just a bridge between our world and the spirit world. It is a gatekeeper. And, for a brief period, there was no Avatar." He looked pointedly to his niece.

_Oh. Well, that's certainly unfortunate. And the waterbender is glaring at me again: so predictable._

"So you think that when Aang was, uh, temporarily unavailable, some crazy-evil spirit came through?" Sokka asked, resigned.

Iroh laughed. "Essentially."

"We'll deal with it." The young earthbender exuded confidence.

"We don't even know what kind of spirit it is, much less how we're supposed to fight it," Katara said.

"First, we should see what we can find out. Knowing your enemy is an important part of fighting," Suki added.

"Agreed. Let's go to the library at the university." Mai said.

"I don't think fighting it is the answer. Remember Hei Bai? Fighting him was the wrong move." Aang still looked concerned.

"Remember Wan Shi Tong? Fighting him was definitely the right move," Sokka argued.

"Only after we had gone back on our word, and what he believed in," Aang said.

"Even if you want to do this peacefully, we want to know as much as possible," Zuko said.

"Ok then, library it is!" Ty Lee said.

"I will send for the heir." Iroh said, rising and dismissing them. They all rose and departed.

Azula grabbed her brother's shoulder, pulling him aside.

"Zuko, with nothing absolutely urgent, it's time to begin your training."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"We'll be in the courtyard!" Zuko called to the others.

The two of them arrived in the palace courtyard, an expanse of flat stone the guards used to train. Zuko turned to his sister and asked, "Are you sure we don't have more important things to do?"

"Yes. Do you know why we are members of the royal family?"

"How is that… Because we were born into it?"

"No, I mean, why is our family the royal family?"

"I don't know."

_You really never paid attention in school, did you? _

"Two hundred years ago, we won a civil war. We were one of two main families on the largest island. The other ruled. At some point, Sozin's great-great-grandfather disagreed with one of their edicts. He challenged the Fire Lord to an Agni Kai. He lost. The Fire Lord decided to kill him, and his son, Azul, vowed revenge. He was patient, slowly building up allies and laying plans. When he finally declared his rebellion, the sides were evenly matched. When he besieged the capital, both leaders agreed to duel for the throne. It was an Agni Kai, but it was also a lightning duel, one of the only ones in history. Azul won, by striking with normal fire as the ruler charged lightning.

"He made sure his victory was thorough, giving the position of Fire Lord unprecedented power and authority. And under him, we experienced an unheard-of era of peace, prosperity, and innovation.

"He won because he was the best firebender. We rule, because we are the strongest firebenders. If our nobles sense weakness, they will strike.

"And that's leaving aside the inevitable attempts on your life, and the many Agni Kai's you or I will fight as a result of some noble disagreeing with some decision or other. So yes, it is vital that you are as capable as possible," she said.

"Now, try and hit me," she said, walking away.

Zuko was standing twenty feet from her, and they turned to face each other. Azula shot a mid-sized blast from her right hand. Zuko dodged to her left and shot a pair of bolts at her. She moved her right hand up in quarter-circle, curving her blast toward him, then continued into a half-circle, directing one of his bolts into the ground. She moved her hand in an upward diagonal, sending out an arc, part of which cancelled Zuko's second bolt, and the rest of it continued toward him. Zuko was busy blocking her curved blast, but he was able to adapt and block both at once, so he was merely knocked backward.

Azula ran forward as he recovered his balance, closing to ten feet. Zuko brought his fists together, then apart, sending out an arc at chest level. Azula jumped, leaned back in midair, and extended both her legs to out a compact bolt, and pushed off it, over Zuko's arc. He dived out of the way to her left, but the explosive impact still sent him flying. He rolled, and began to rise. She landed gracefully, sweeping her left leg out and sent a wave of blue flame across the ground toward her brother, who was knocked back to the ground. She continued her motion, bringing around her right hand to point two fingers at him.

"Again," she commanded, allowing Zuko to get up and return to the starting position.

_And there it is, right on his face: Zuko's oldest frustration. He needs to get over it, and the sooner the better._

They walked toward each other and began circling at ten feet apart, looking for an opening. She pivoted on her left foot, sending out arcs from her right limbs at shoulder and shin height. Zuko leapt through them horizontally, sending a vertical arc from his right hand at her. She managed to block it, but then he stepped forward, bringing his left hand up to his right and sent a double bolt at her before she regained her balance. Though she brought up a screen with her right hand, it still blasted her off her feet. She landed on her back, the breath knocked out of her, and saw an arc descending. She quickly inhaled and blocked it with her right hand, but Zuko had already advanced to a few feet away, and he extended his fist toward her chest.

"Very good. Again." She got to her feet.

_So it wasn't just my imagination that he was better; he _has_ improved. Significantly. But that appears to have rekindled his misguided hope that he will somehow, someday, be better than me at firebending. And the best thing for him is for me to simply crush that hope._

She opened with an arc from her right hand at chest height. He blocked, then sent a double bolt at her. She dodged easily, moving forward. She began the lightning kata with her right hand and saw Zuko preparing to redirect. Azula brought her right hand forward, shooting blue fire instead. He was surprised but dived to her right, landing in a roll, and came up shooting fire at her. She sent a bolt from her right leg into his attack, and both bolts faded. She sent a bolt directly at his chest, but he brought up his flaming foot, simultaneously kicking her attack aside like a ball and sending an arc at her. She ducked and rolled to her right, kicking out with her left leg. Zuko dodged and brought down an arc on her. She summoned a weak explosive shield, blocking, but he pressed the attack with a pair of blasts, only one of which she shot down. The other hit her, scorching her armor and signaling Zuko's victory.

"You were holding back, weren't you?" said Zuko, eyes narrowed.

She stood up, nodding. "I haven't been using my left hand." _And I'm left-handed, _she left unsaid.

Zuko understood, though, and looked down, fists clenched.

"I was evaluating you're current skill," she continued calmly. "And you're very good. In the last month, you've improved more than I expected you to in two years. I suspect it's because you've switched styles. The old way allows for more control for some people at the cost of power. But most can't learn it at all. Now, let us resume, and I won't hold back."

With her dominant hand came finer control, greater power, and access to techniques which she otherwise couldn't do. She won the next four matches fairly easily, though her brother did get in a few good hits. He ended up covered in bruises and minor burns, while she had only a few.

As he staggered back to his feet, Zuko looked frustrated, angry, and disappointed in himself.

_ "_Zuko, you are one of the best firebenders living. The people with more skill than you can be counted on one hand. However…" she said, her voice sounding strange to herself as she attempted comfort.

_The sooner the better._

Her voice hardened. "You shouldn't even compare yourself to me. I'm the best firebender. Not in a hundred years, not in a thousand. The best, ever, in recorded history. Look. Occasionally, firebending masters are able to turn the very center of their blasts blue. Azulon was one of the few firebenders to ever master lightning in his eighteenth year, matching a few others. Ozai produced his first bolt when he was twenty-one. We had legends of one person who had supposedly done it by the time he was sixteen, but there was debate among the fire sages on whether that was even possible."

Her brother's expression didn't change.

"I was born lucky," Azula began.

Zuko winced. "And I was lucky to be born. Yes, I've heard it before."

"That wasn't what I was going to say. I was born lucky, but Azulon stacked the deck. He arranged a marriage between Roku's son and the latest female in the second-strongest line of firebenders, our traditional rivals. Then he married their daughter, Ursa, to his second son. So I'm descended from the two strongest lines of firebenders, plus an Avatar."

"But…"

"I know, you are too. However, the traits simply didn't line up in your case. It was random. Luck. Your firebending strength and level of skill was slightly below average for an ordinary member of the royal family, and Dad was expecting someone extraordinary. That's why he never had time for you, but you're still one of the strongest firebenders in the world. But for me, all the traits lined up, granting me raw power on the level of an Avatar and natural talent in controlling it. I also put in as much or more work than you, under the very best, most effective teachers." Her face remained impassive.

"You put in more work than me?" Zuko sounded doubtful.

"Probably. I practiced firebending for six hours a day, on average, for nine years, starting from when I turned five."

"That's insane," he said.

"It's not like I had much choice. And besides, it undeniably got results. Now, assuming I remain in control, the Avatar state _might_ match me in raw power. Iroh _might_ match or exceed me in control. And the latter won't be true in a few years. Iroh could, possibly, win in a fight now, but his skills will only decline, and mine will only increase."

Zuko tensed again, then looked her in the eyes, and nodded curtly.

"We're done for the day, let's get healed," she said.

They found the others in the university library, one huge well-lit room filled with uncomfortable furniture and shelves of scrolls and tomes. Katara healed Zuko first, then reluctantly began working on Azula.

_Hmm, she isn't cancelling the pain this time. Must hold grudges for a long time. I suppose she has good reason._

"Have you found anything?" Azula asked once healed, addressing no one in particular.

"Did you know that they don't have ice cream here? And it was only invented in the past 150 years?" Ty Lee said.

"No, we haven't found what we were looking for," said Mai.

Two days of fruitless study later, Piandao approached the group in the library.

"It appears that Earth King Kuei has arrived at the western breach. He is being escorted to the palace as we speak."

"How is that possible?" Katara asked, glaring at Azula with fresh suspicion.

"I don't know, but the messenger seemed quite certain. Now, come with me please," Piandao requested courteously.

Everyone was quiet, then they all rose to follow the sword master to the palace, stopping to retrieve Toph from the courtyard, much to the relief of the earthbending guards training with her.

On the way, everyone but Azula and Mai proposed guesses as to how the king had survived, ranging from the spirit letting him go to a long-lost twin.

In the throne room, Bumi sat in a crude stone chair below the throne, waiting. Iroh stood beside him.

Azula waited patiently as the Avatar and the old king traded small talk. She was the first to notice when Kuei walked in, flanked by soldiers.

_The weak fool. What we gain in avoiding chaos may be lost in his naiveté. Still, he would have competent advisors. And, there is the unique advantage of him being unaware of the war for most of his life, and thus free of the deep hatred for the Fire Nation most earth citizens have._

Kuei looked from Aang to Sokka, Katara, and Toph, and smiled and waved at them. They returned the gesture and bowed respectfully. The king looked toward Zuko, and his smile faded. It was gone by the time he registered Ty Lee and Mai, and was an angry frown when he looked to Azula.

She watched as he nervously made his way past the group, walking toward his throne, and saw his small sigh of relief as Bumi dismissed his makeshift chair back into the floor. Finally, he sat down, and turned to face the group. Everyone but Zuko and Azula bowed, while the fire siblings inclined their heads respectfully.

"We thought you were dead," Aang said, happy relief clear on his face.

"Well, I was in the northern city of Lung Hai Gong, and had met a man who looked almost exactly like me. Bosco even liked him. I came back to the inn, and found Bosco dead and a huge hole in the wall, and I had heard about the liberation of the capital, so I ran back here," Kuei said, sadness in his voice and posture.

_He reads as true. And he is an open book. Still, that seems very unlikely._

"So, the war is over. And we should, talk, about it?" Zuko sounded awkward, unused to wielding power.

"Technically we have a ceasefire, which is not the same as peace terms. So we should establish those as soon as possible." Azula's voice was confident.

"Alright, let's do it right now," the Earth King said. "Just you and me." He indicated Zuko.

Azula looked pointedly at her brother.

"We both need to be there," he said.

Kuei's brow furrowed.

"You may appoint an advisor of your own, if you wish," Azula said.

"How about the Avatar?"

"Fine," Azula said.

"Leave us!" the king commanded.

Soon it was just Kuei, Aang, Zuko, and Azula left in the room. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, before Azula spoke. "First, the very basics: we all want the war to be over." _Even if only because it was the best of a number of terrible scenarios._ "The main questions are how quickly do we withdraw our forces, and what happens to our colonies."

"But first, as a token of good faith, I would like you to release our captured garrison of Ba Sing Se. I should add that we have already ordered the release _all_ of our war prisoners, which number in the thousands," Azula kept a level voice, but at the words "good faith," the Earth King's eyes narrowed in anger.

"But we aren't negotiating in good faith, are we?" Kuei turned to glare at Azula. "You and the Dai Li are unpunished."

"I was at war with you, if you'll recall," Azula said, icy.

"You took my city by treachery!"

"And tell me, how many of your citizens died as a result of my conquest? None. More people died as collateral damage during the liberation of this city than its fall." _In fact, the only person to die is standing next to you._

"The Dai Li still committed treason."

"They're Fire Nation citizens now," she said.

Aang interrupted, speaking calmly. "It isn't really important. We all want peace, and we can and will make it happen."

"Fine," Kuei replied.

"The cities taken within the past ten years will be returned to you. We will provide however much military support you need to crush the many rebellions you'll face, withdrawing when we are no longer needed, and in return, our older colonies and the cities established by the Fire Nation on Earth Kingdom land will still answer to us," Azula said.

"So you would still end up with lands you took from us by conquest."

_Idiot. We won the war. That's what happens when someone wins a war._

"By now, the citizens of the colonies generally prefer Fire Nation rule. If a city or colony prefers to rejoin the Earth Kingdom instead, they will be free to do so," Zuko said.

"About those prisoners…" Azula said.

"No. Not until I have good evidence, confirmed by my own forces, that you are keeping your end of the deal," Kuei said.

Zuko looked at Azula, indicating his acceptance and asking for hers. _There were an unusually high percentage of noble children in that garrison, it having been the safest job for troops in the war, and their parents wouldn't be happy. The last thing they needed was more dissent. On the other hand, the king could have easily been so much worse, especially given his personal baggage. _She nodded to her brother.

The four shook hands.


	5. The Grand Chancellor

Azula entered her chambers in the palace exhausted. Three days of tedious negotiations with the earth king and the avatar, two people entirely naïve when it came to politics, took its toll. That her brother also had no experience with power beyond bossing his crew around months ago didn't help matters. But they had hammered out the details of the peace treaty, to the reasonable satisfaction of both parties. Those not involved in the negotiations spent their time looking for anything on their mysterious spiritual adversary, but hadn't found anything useful.

As always, she fell asleep within minutes.

_She was looking at a ball of fur her father held. _What is it? A kitten. You did well with the turtleducks, this is your next test. It will have multiple stages, but the first is simple: make this creature like you. _She smiled and took the kitten, hugging it to her chest. Ozai frowned. _Remember the first lesson.

_She was running toward her opponent, a royal guard, dodging three bolts as she closed. When she was five feet away, she brought her hands forward, letting out a red blast bigger than her body. He tried to block, but was blasted back, singed. _I win!_She looked to her father, who had been watching the bout. He had no expression on his face, and her smile faded. _You have defeated one. Now try two. _Two guards stepped forward from a group of nine, behind her father. Her face settled into a look of fierce determination._

_She was still tired from her first three battles that day as she faced four guards. They were each ten feet away from her, arranged in a semicircle. They all attacked and she jumped to her left, landing in a roll as Ty Lee had taught her. She got back on her feet gracefully, attacking the nearest guard, while the farthest two couldn't get a good shot at her without hitting one of their allies. Her attack burned the nearest, and he fell to the ground. She sent out an arc at the other three, catching one in the chest. Her remaining two opponents sent streams of fire at her. She jumped above them, sending out a double bolt from her legs at the one to the right. He was blasted out of the fight, but the other attacked her as she landed, burning her right arm as she leapt to the side. She fell, landing on her back. She extended both her legs, shooting a compact bolt into the chest of her last opponent, who fell back, defeated. She looked to her father. _Almost perfect. Almost.

Azula woke up about two hours before sunrise. She changed into her usual light armor, a suit of stiffened, flame-resistant cloth, with steel bracers and boots. It had been carefully crafted and tailored for her body exactly, to her specifications. No gloves, for maximum control of fire, bracers and boots to block attacks, the main portion designed not do absorb or deflect direct hits, but to turn glancing blows into ignorable ones. And it was light enough to barely slow her movement.

She did her hair, restored to its normal look, and placed her small princess' crown in her ponytail. She looked to her lipstick with the usual faint distaste. _Beauty is a weapon to be honed and used like any other. _She applied the cosmetic.

After breakfast, she went out to the nearly deserted palace courtyard, disdainfully ignoring the earth guards tailing her. She went to her balloon, attaching a weight to each limb, and then continued to an open expanse to practice.

_Pity it's so open. I won't try anything new today, or practice some of my best tricks in any visible way._

She began with the basics, a quick refresh on the techniques she had already perfected. For each limb and each basic technique, she let out three attacks.

_Bolt, stream, arc, shield. First three refreshed. Now for the shield._

She made a quick circular motion with her hands, and blue fire wrapped around her in bright sphere. She held it for ten seconds, then made a quick jab forward with her left hand, releasing it in an explosion, which reached about twenty feet away from her before dissipating.

She conjured an instant explosive shield twice, a slightly less powerful but decidedly more useful technique.

_I've finished the basics. Imagine, having to put in hours every day just to maintain a form, rather than perfecting it once, and having it come easily forever after. Or maybe that's just unique to me. Father wasn't exactly known for false compliments. Father…_

Fresh anger flared through her mind, beyond the cold, controlled version she normally used to power fire. It tested her control, but subsided after a few minutes, leaving only a bad mood and a slight boost to her power.

She shot a steady stream of fire from both her hands at a small patch of ground, maintaining it for a solid five minutes, until the rock began to glow, then melt. She stopped, breathing heavily but steadily.

Fatigued, she switched to the most important aspect of combat effectiveness, precision. She tossed handfuls of coins into the air, shooting as many as she could, over and over again.

She stopped as the sun rose, feeling its power run through her. She went back to the palace, to wake her brother for his second lesson and the avatar for his first.

She had the guards actually wake them, to avoid any panicked reactions from the Avatar, and they came to the courtyard after breakfast.

"First the very basics. Firebending is fundamentally about two things: heat and force. Each has its uses. Essentially, heat kills better, but force is more flexible. You need heat before you can apply force."

"Azula, don't you think teaching us lightning would be a better investment of time? Especially considering the spirit," Zuko asked.

"You won't be able to learn." Azula said, addressing Aang. "Only firebending Avatars can, and only about half of them. You probably won't either." She switched to Zuko. "You're only sixteen."

"I'll try," he replied, tensing slightly.

_I suppose he'll never really be over it. I'll settle for it not affecting him much._

"Lightning is different from fire. The energy it manipulates is unlike any other, and follows its own rules. In fact, it's best to think of it as a separate element. And to learn it, you have to simultaneously pull the energy from the air around you and direct it. The main reason it's so rare is that if you can't guide the energy when you generate it, you can easily die. But there's no way to practice guidance without first generating it. Or at least there wasn't." She gestured to a stone dummy by a metal pole. "Make the lightning hit the target."

Zuko understood, and settled into his redirection stance. Azula began the lightning kata slowly.

"Wait. Do you really want to let her shoot you?" Aang asked.

Azula stopped, and said, "Lightning doesn't have to be lethal. If Zuko completely failed to redirect it, he would experience pain on the order of a mild burn."

Aang looked relieved, then suddenly furious. "You mean you could have just knocked me out? You chose to kill even when you had other options?"

"I wasn't sure what it would take to kill or incapacitate you in the Avatar state. I simply didn't take any chances," Azula replied, calm.

Aang didn't reply, and anger remained on his young face.

Azula turned back to her brother, and resumed channeling. She shot a weak bolt, barely visible, at his outstretched left hand. He caught it, and successfully redirected toward the stone target. However, the bolt bent to the metal pole, missing.

"Lightning follows its own rules. One of them is that metal attracts it. No one really knows why. Once you can direct lightning past metal, you will have fine control over it. Observe."

She shot another nonlethal bolt directly at the dummy and compensated successfully for the obstacle. The dummy shattered.

"Once you have fine control, we'll move on to generation," she continued. She turned toward the Avatar and asked, "Would you like to try?"

_How annoying to have to be polite. Still, the reward clearly outweighs the cost with the Avatar and his friends._

She saw a flicker of fear on Aang's face, and he declined. She looked to her brother, but saw that he was distracted, looking to the palace. She turned, and saw that Youshou and four other Dai Li were walking toward her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Come with us," the lieutenant replied.

"Lesson over. I have to go," Azula said.

As she walked back toward the palace, Katara emerged into the courtyard. The waterbender strode up to her, and demanded, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to the headquarters of the Dai Li, to receive some kind of important information," Azula replied.

"You really aren't making it easy to trust you, you know. For example, how do we know we won't wake up brainwashed?"

"All but one of those artifacts were destroyed when Long Feng abandoned the previous headquarters, and I had his spare destroyed when I left Ba Sing Se."

"And why should I believe you?"

"You know I wouldn't leave that much power in someone else's hands. I can also assure you that if I had some kind of plan which centered around brainwashing you, I would already have had the opportunity." Azula said, with an effort to avoid her usual condescending tone.

Katara still looked mad, but didn't say anything as she passed Azula, walking toward Aang and Zuko.

Azula arrived at headquarters, and asked the lieutenant to give her the news.

"Princess, we have news from the east. The king there is dead."

"I'm not actually familiar with the eastern political situation. I wasn't aware they had a king."

"It's a little more complicated than that. Um, let's see, a basic summary of the east. There are five major cities, and one important lord for each of them. Historically, they feuded constantly. However, when the Fire Nation invaded, the eastern lords banded together for their own protection. They diverted the majority of their armies to Baolei, the city on the south of the connecting neck of land, so that an invading army would have to conquer the city to secure a supply line to the others. The five leaders decided to elect a figurehead "king of the east," to rule from Baolei. Technically, the king has command of all military forces, and is the primary diplomat for the eastern provinces. However, the king answers to a council of five advisors, and each advisor answers to one of the lords. Now, the king is dead, and the councilors will be competing with each other to elect a new one. He was old, so it _could _be from natural causes. The reason I'm bringing this to your attention is that Baolei was under siege when Zuko called a ceasefire."

"That I knew. General Muto commands."

"I only mentioned it because there will most likely be some chaos until a new leader is chosen, and that could be a problem if said general senses an opportunity. We don't know much about him, and our information network in the east is not as extensive as we'd like it to be. Here's the full report." Youshou finished, handing her a thick roll of paper. Azula took the report, thanked her subordinate, and hurried back to the palace.

_Muto. One of Ozai's most loyal supporters. He could well take the opportunity to attack, if he still wants a war, or if he hasn't gotten the message yet. Hopefully he's smart enough not to oppose us, but I won't count on his loyalty._

By the time she arrived back in the courtyard, the other eight were there training, and it was nearly noon.

"Zuko, we're needed in the east. One of our armies hasn't withdrawn, and the enemy leader just died. So we need to prevent any escalation," Azula said. "Aang, I assume you'll want to come as well. It would be most useful for you to talk to the commanding earth general, and get him to offer to meet with us. Ideally, you can help convince the east to support the capital. Minimizing conflict is what you do, after all." Aang agreed, and the group left Ba Sing Se again.

Mai, Ty Lee, Zuko and Azula took the balloon, while Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka and Suki took a fuzzier form of transport. During the flight, Azula explained the situation to her companions. She and Zuko agreed that she rather than Zuko would "handle" the general if it came to that, to demonstrate her support publically. It was almost sunset when they came within sight of Baolei, a medium-sized port city.

Appa flew toward the city, while they headed down towards the army encircling it.

The four teenagers set down outside Muto's large circular tent. The two guards at the entrance flap uncrossed their spears for Azula and Zuko, but prevented Mai and Ty Lee from entering.

_No point starting trouble before we have to, and two guards won't make a difference if we need them._

"Wait outside," Zuko commanded them.

Zuko and Azula entered through the flap. The general was seated at a table with eight other officers, with ten guards around the circumference of the tent. He looked up, saw the fire siblings, and scowled.

"You are ordered to withdraw your army from around this city," Zuko said.

The general stood and gestured to his officers, but they didn't react. Muto frowned. "You were banished. What business do you have wearing your father's crown?"

_Naturally. Well, he's against us, but his officers may not be. They don't want to commit treason or defy their superior, so they are waiting. So if I can convince Muto or make him look weak, we won't have to fight him in the middle of his army._

"He gave you an order, General," Azula said.

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to this traitor!" Muto demanded rhetorically of his officers.

Zuko, outraged, was about to speak, but Azula made a quick gesture to her brother, reminding him that she would handle this one.

"He has been officially crowned Fire Lord by the fire sages, and I support him. As every citizen should," Azula said. _At least, that's the story we're selling to most of the nobility._

"Why would that make a difference? The fire sages are old, weak, and far away. _You_ are just a foolish child who actually believes the propaganda about herself. Without your father, you have no power," Muto said.

_I win. Anyone would recognize that as sufficient provocation._

"General, you have disrespected me. I challenge you to Agni Kai," Azula said, smirking. _Decline, your guards won't respect you enough to defy the Fire Lord. Accept, I send you home after teaching you a valuable and permanent lesson._

"I accept," the general replied, an overconfident sneer on his face.

Zuko and the officers quickly made the necessary arrangements for a standard duel, starting distance thirty feet, the winner to command the army.

_Best make this quick. Scar him, but don't kill him. Easy enough._

They turned to face each other, and Azula ran toward her opponent. He shot two bolts at her. She dodged one, and deflected the other.

She retaliated with an arc from each hand at ten feet away, forcing Muto to dive to her left. He quickly landed and rolled back to his feet, attacking with a stream of fire from both hands as he rose.

She extended her left leg, sending bright, searing blue flames through the weaker red stream, deflecting the attack and knocking Muto to the ground.

She stepped forward as the flames cleared, and pointed her right hand directly at her prone opponents face. He unclenched his fists, surrendering.

She shot a quick, small arc at his face, burning a line from the center of his forehead to his right cheek, blinding him on one side. He screamed briefly, before covering his eye with his hand.

The bout had lasted less than ten seconds.

Muto staggered to his feet, then bowed respectfully to Azula, who returned it.

"General, you stand relieved. Patch yourself up and go home," Azula commanded. "You. Help him." She indicated the nearest watching soldier.

"Of course," the guard replied. He and another guard supported the general, taking him to a hospital tent.

Azula made the necessary arrangements to prepare the army for withdrawal, enjoying the fresh looks of fear shown by her new subordinates. Muto sailed home in one of their lighter warships. Now she waited for the diplomat that Aang should convince the enemy leader to send in the general's former tent with her brother and friends.

"Well, Zuko, do you understand everything I did?" she asked.

"Mostly, though I don't know that you had to scar him," he replied.

"Because our nobles respect strength. To let him go unharmed would be considered weakness." Azula said.

Zuko touched his own scar, frowning.

Mai asked, "Why not just kill him, then?"

"He had family, and all he actually did was insult us," she said. "Killing him would be needlessly cruel, and invite retaliation."

The tent flap opened, allowing in a messenger. He addressed Zuko, "My lord, your presence is requested by the main gate. We have a diplomat under the white flag who will escort you."

The four left the camp, Azula leaving the officer most afraid of her in command, with orders not to attack unless attacked. They passed the main gate, and were led to a sparse palace, actually smaller than the noble residences around it. The throne room was barely noticeable as such, with one chair slightly bigger than the others around a large stone table, raised a foot of the ground with a stone dais. The room was plain brown stone, lit with ordinary torches rather than the usual expensive green ones.

Around the table were Sokka, Katara, Suki, Toph, Aang, and, on the throne, a stocky, jovial man in an enormous purple hat.

"I am Han, Grand Chancellor of Baolei, and regent of the east. Where is the general?" the lord asked as Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, and Zuko walked toward the table. His tone was curious, but welcoming.

"Sailing home. I command the army now," Azula replied, seating herself. "They will withdraw at sunrise."

The lord smiled. "Well, I don't see you gaining anything by lying here, so I will believe you. But why are you here now? What do you want from me?"

_Could it really be that easy? Am I finally dealing with someone competent? Anyway, he's being blunt, best to match the tone._

"Two things: smooth withdrawal of our forces, and your public alliance with the earth capital."

"I can ensure the safe withdrawal of your forces, because I am acting military commander. However, we need a king of the east before we can accomplish the second. Believe me, I would love for the east to be on good terms with the capital and the Fire Nation. There's a problem." His tone was warm and friendly.

"What?" Zuko asked.

"Your friends told me that they were investigating a possible assassination, and my own spies confirm it. Our king is dead by poison. I control one councilor, but the other four are completely unknown to me. You see, I'm forbidden to contact them and they have their own guards, as part of the original agreement to unite the east. However, no such restrictions apply to their officers, and I've invited them all to a party somewhat later this evening. I'll invite you too. Use your friend here," He gestured to Toph "and find out who's plotting what. Any conspiracy will need at least some local support, so you should find something to go on."

"We agree," Suki said.

"Sounds actually reasonable. I cannot tell you how impressed I am," said Mai, with no emotion.

"Any questions?" the man asked.

"Why are you wearing a giant fuzzy purple hat?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yeah, I _was _wondering about that," Sokka added.

"I _like_ my hat. Any non-sartorial questions?"

There were none.

The party would have been boring were it not for the intrigue. Idle nobles and their irritating children milled about, and their conversations were less than meaningful. It was a large opulent room, everyone dressed in their best green silken robes, with the exception of the latest invitees, who were all in their normal attire.

_Parties. My one weakness. At least I have Ty Lee to talk to, or I'd be bored out of my mind. Though I do at least select targets for the earthbender._

Azula indicated another vaguely suspicious noble to Toph, by tapping the ground three times, then making a line with her next two taps. She then watched with some amusement as the younger girl pushed her way bluntly through the milling distractions, and saw the suspicious noble's look of shock and outrage as Toph spoke to him.

The first eleven nobles apparently didn't register as lying to the young earthbender. There were still dozens more to go, and it wouldn't do to be _too_ obvious.

But after questioning the twelfth man in opulent green robes, Toph signaled to the group. They gathered around her, in a relatively quiet corner.

"He lied when I asked him if he knew anything about the king's death," said Toph.  
"What do we do now?"

"Tail him as he leaves, see if he does anything suspicious. Afterwards, whether he does or not, get the ruler of this city to arrest him, and question him. But hopefully he'll lead us to another conspirator," Azula said. "Mai?"

"Easily done," Mai replied.

"Meet back at the palace, and stay safe," Zuko said to her.

They waited for the party to end, Toph eventually questioning everyone, without signaling again. At midnight, people began to leave, and Mai seemed to just disappear.

They waited in the throne room, relaying the information to the ruler of Baolei. Two hours later, Mai entered. She didn't waste any time, and began speaking,

"I followed him; he met with a hooded figure, male by the sound of his voice. Also incompetent, because he mentioned the name of his employer: Long Feng."

Aang, Suki, Sokka, Katara, and Toph looked concerned.

Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko looked thoughtful.

Azula smirked.


End file.
